


Six for Hell

by romeoandjulietyouwish



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (not graphic), Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Murder, Avengers Tower, Blood, Bruce is the deus ex machina of this story, Crying, Dark Character, Gen, Hugs, Hurt, Hurt Peter Parker, Nightmares, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Stephen Strange, Protective Tony Stark, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Torture, i promise this has a happy ending, lying, y'all this hurts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-07-20 13:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19992715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romeoandjulietyouwish/pseuds/romeoandjulietyouwish
Summary: After a mission, the Avengers are much different than normal. For one, they're trying to kill Peter Parker and he has no clue why.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> God, it's been a hot sec since I wrote anything! This has been banging around in my head for a while and I'm so excited for this! Beware for a lot of angst! I hope you guys enjoy!

It all starts with Flash jumping out of his seat and pointing out the classroom window, “Look! The Avengers!” The class, forgetting about the history lesson, dashes to the window like a herd of elephants. They watch with large eyes as the Avengers fly by fighting some sort of wizard hooting purple and green magic, well everyone except Peter. Peter stays seated at his desk and he quickly digs his phone from his pocket. 

He holds the phone to his ear after pressing call, “Come on, pick up, pick up...” He mutters under his breath. 

After a moment his mentor answers, “Kid I know why you’re calling me and the answer is no.” Tony’s voice is even and directs. 

Peter rolls his eyes, “But I’m so close!” Peter looks over to his classmates, none of them are paying attention to him. “Please? What if you need help?”

“Stay on the ground, Pete, I mean it,” Tony says sharply. 

“But what if you get hurt?” Peter exclaims, trying to keep his voice low while his classmates are distracted. 

Tony sighs, “Kid, we’re all going to be fine. I promise. Stay at school and I’ll see you in a few hours, okay?”

Peter nods, it’s pointless to fight, “Okay. But call me the minute you need my help.”

“Will do.”

Tony hangs up and Peter sits back in his seat as the teacher calls the class to order. He keeps his phone on his desk, sure that the teacher is too distracted to notice. Throughout the rest of the day, Peter’s phone remains silent. Not even a text telling him they’re alright. But sighs in relief when he sees Happy’s car outside. If Happy’s here then nothing must be wrong. 

“Is everyone okay?” Peter asks when the door shuts behind him.

“Yeah,” Happy says, pulling away from the curb. “Everyone’s okay, a little banged up and they’re all feeling pretty down, but okay.”

“Feeling down?”

Happy nods, “The guy got away.” Happy is silent for a moment before Happy says, “Hey when you get there, don’t say anything about it, okay kid?”

Peter nods. With that, the conversation stops and Peter is content to gaze out the window, watching the city pass by. Only a few minutes later, Happy pulls into the garage and Peter is bounding out of the car to the elevator.

When Peter arrives in the elevator, FRIDAY doesn't greet him like normal. He shrugs it off quickly, Tony is constantly making updates to FRIDAY. Maybe he just hit something by accident and is working on fixing it. So instead, Peter presses the button for the resident floor, planning on dropping off his bag and grabbing a snack before going to work in the lab. When the doors open, Peter senses something is wrong. He doesn’t hear any voices. Normally after missions, the whole team gathers in the kitchen to order take-out. There’s nothing. But then he shrugs, Happy said they were upset, maybe they didn’t feel like food. 

Peter’s instincts tell him to tread carefully, but he dispels his thoughts. He’s safe in the tower. So he continues walking as normal. When he turns to the kitchen he is greeted by none other than Natasha Romanov. She is sitting on the counter, cleaning her nails with a sharp knife. Something about her is off, but Peter can’t place it. 

As Peter walks into the room, Natasha looks up at him with a wicked smile, “Hello Peter.”

Peter gulps, his body is screaming at him to run, but Peter fights it. Natasha would never hurt him, “Hi, Natasha. How’s your day going?” Peter musters up a small smile. 

Natasha walks slowly over to him, her strides long and dangerous. Her knife dangles casually from her fingers, “Much better now that you’re here.” And her knife in suddenly flying towards Peter’s face, Peter’s body forces him downwards, away from the incoming knife. It slams into the wall behind him with a loud thud. 

“Natasha?” Peter asked, his voice rising in pitch. He scrambles away from the wall and to his feet. “Natasha, what are you doing?”

The woman smiles a deadly smile as she rips the knife from the wall, “Killing a spider.”

Peter’s eyes blow wide and he lets his instincts take over. Natasha runs at him, slamming her foot into his chest. He crashes to the ground. He forces himself quickly to his feet, but before he is fully standing, Natasha swipes a cut to his cheek with a knife.

“Natasha! It’s me, it's Peter! What are you doing!” Peter screams as he ducks away from Natasha. Natasha grabs him around his waist and throws him to the ground. She laughs and leans above him. She is about to say something, but Peter cuts her off by sweeping her legs out from under her. While she falls, Peter snatches the knife from her hands and backs away. 

“Need some help, Tasha?” A sly voice asks from the hallway. Peter looks over to see Bucky and Wanda standing in the doorway. Wanda smirks, red magic twirling at the tips of her fingers.

“Help me! Wanda, please!” Peter cries as Natasha stands up. “Bucky, don’t hurt me, please, I don’t know what’s happening!” But his words fall on deaf ears. Wanda narrows her gaze at Peter and flings him upwards and into the ceiling, red magic wrapped around his waist. Peter groans at the impact. And then he finds himself falling back to the ground. But before he hits the floor, Bucky grabs him by the neck and starts to squeeze. Peter’s legs dangle above the floor.

Peter kicks his legs at Bucky and pulls as hard as he can against Bucky’s metal hand to no avail. Bucky’s eyes are cold and empty. He looks like a shell. “Bucky...please,” Peter gasps. He strikes out his legs again and manages to land both his feet on Buck’s chest. He pushes off with all his strength. Peter flies out of Bucky’s grasp. His back hit the edge of the counter, but he ignores his pain and forces himself to run. He lets his spider-sense control his movements as he ducks away from Natasha’s swipe, dodges Bucky’s punches as he stands back up, and shrinks away from Wanda’s magic. He finally gets into the hallway where he books it to the stairs. 

He stands at the top of the stairs, looking down several floors. No time to run down all of them. He needs to find help. 

Peter quickly slips on his web-shooters and webs the railing of the stairs. He jumps over the railing and falls rapidly down the middle of the stairway, keeping his arms and legs together so he doesn’t hit the dies. When his feet land the ground he looks up and comes face to face with Iron Man, Captain America. He sags in relief, “Tony! Thank god! Something really weird is going on with Nat-”

Peter cuts himself off when they start walking quickly towards him, “Steve?” He asks looking to the man, but then he sees his dead eyes. “Tony, what’s going on?” His voice is quiet, almost a whimper. He takes a small step backward. Tony would never hurt him. Would he?

Peter shoves his emotions down into his gut. He turns tail and begins to run, knowing he can’t fight off both of them at once. Thankfully, next of the last step on the staircase is a window. Without even thinking, Peter slams into the window. It shatters at the impact and Peter crashes onto the sidewalk, thankfully he was on the ground floor. He doesn’t look back as he sprints away from the tower.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad that you guys are excited about this! Thank you to all of you who left such kind and encouraging comments on the last chapter! My life is about to get really crazy, so idk when I'm going to be able to update next (hopefully Monday).

Peter ducks into an empty alley several blocks away from the tower. He doesn’t know if he lost them or if they were never chasing him in the first place, but either way, he can’t run for much longer. His entire body aches and his clothes are covered with blood. Normally if he was this badly hurt, he would call Tony or Bruce. But that’s not an option right now. 

Peter sinks down to the ground, his hands covering his face. What the hell had just happened? His friends, his family, had just tried to kill him. Why? Did they try to kill Happy? Or Pepper? He shakes his head, Pepper is at a meeting somewhere in Europe. And Happy...well, he doesn’t really know where Happy goes after he drops him off. What if Happy was part of it too? Peter shakes his head, Happy was just fine in the car. He was normal. He probably didn’t know.

So what was going on?

Where could he go?

Could anyone help him?

With the Avengers out to get him, can he trust anyone?

Though he didn’t see Bruce, he’s sure that he’ll probably be the same as the rest of them. Would Doctor Strange be? What happened to them? Did it have anything to do the wizard they were fighting this morning? Probably. But how?

Peter lets out a groan of frustration and slams his fists into the ground. He has so many questions and no way to get answers. But first things first, where will he be safe?

He doesn’t want to bring May into this so the apartment is definitely out. So are the tower and the compound. Ned? No, he doesn’t want Ned to be part of this either. The Sanctum? He’s only met Doctor Strange once, how could he know he would take him in? Or that he could trust him in the first place? Clint’s house? He doesn't want to bring Clint’s family into this. 

Peter stills. _Clint_. Clint is still retired so he wouldn’t have been fighting with them today (if that’s what really caused it) so he wouldn’t have whatever the rest of them have. _And_ , Clint was a spy so he probably has somewhere for him to hide while he figures this out. 

Peter feels hope swell in his chest at the thought, but it swiftly disappears when a large green mass slams to the ground in front of him. Peter shrieks and presses himself into the wall.

The Hulk towers over him, his teeth bared, “Hello, puny spider.” Peter’s eyes go wide as he slowly stands to his feet. He got his answer about Bruce.

“Hey, Hulk,” he says softly. “I’m Peter, you remember me? We’re friends.”

“Spider is not Hulk’s friend,” Hulk says menacingly, leaning over Peter.

His giant green hands reach towards Peter, but Peter's instincts take over and he ducks under them and manages to make it back to the sidewalk before Hulk can even touch him. 

Peter starts to run, pushing past people and fighting against the blossoming pain in his body. He needs to hide, _now_. Peter’s eyes dart frantically around the streets. He hears people behind him gasping and screaming as the Hulk begins to follow Peter. A quick glance over his shoulder tells him that he is running out of time. So Peter makes a split-second decision. Peter sprints across the road.

He ignores the honking cars and the angry shouts of drivers as they slam on their breaks. Peter looks back again, but the Hulk is still after him. The road slows him down. Despite wanting to kill Peter, he still has concern for civilian lives, waiting until the street is clear to cross. 

From being an avid viewer of all the Mission Impossible and Bourne Identity movies, Peter knows he needs to change his appearance. Besides being covered with blood, he’s wearing a staple Peter Parker outfit: blue Midtown sweatshirt and dark jeans. He’s easily recognizable. Without glancing back at the Hulk behind him, Peter dives into the nearest store. 

Once the doors closed behind them, Peter darts away from the windows, ducking behind a rack of clothes. If the other patrons or the shop workers give him strange looks, he doesn't notice. He grabs a grey sweatshirt, a pair of khakis, and a baseball hat off the rack. Peter glances out the window one more time. He can’t see the Hulk anymore, but he must still be here. He assumes the others are not far behind. Peter quickly pays for the clothes.

“Are you okay?” The cashier asks with a worried glance to his bloodstained clothes.

Peter nods, forcing himself to smile, “Yep! My friends and I were filming a horror movie down the street.” He is surprised by how easy the lie rolls off his tongue. 

After paying, Peter goes back to one of the changing rooms. It’s only when he looks in the mirror does he understand how rough he looks.

He has a thin cut on his cheek surrounded by dried blood. His neck is covered with dark purple, blue, and yellow bruises that throb painfully when he breathes. His entire right side is covered with small cuts from jumping through the window, some glass is still embedded in his skin. When he takes off his shirt, his chest is covered with bright red marks. He has broken ribs, Peter realizes. 

He turns away from the mirror. 

Thanks to his healing factor, all of the cuts have stopped bleeding so he is able to cover a majority of them with the sweatshirt and pants. He rubs away the dried blood on his cheek and manages to look somewhat normal. He wears the baseball hat low on his head, hoping it helps cover the rest of his injuries. 

Peter looks in the mirror and takes as deep of a breath as he can. He can do this. He just needs to sneak out of the store, hoping the Hulk doesn’t see him (or anyone else for that matter, and call Clint.

Peter slings his backpack across his shoulders and opens the dressing room door. He keeps his head down, drawing his hood over his hat. When he looks outside, he doesn’t see Hulk. No people on the street are staring at anything or taking pictures. Peter creeps through the store slowly. He is almost to the doors when someone yanks him roughly to the left. 

Peter tries to scream, but a hand slams over his mouth. Peter’s eyes are wide when he sees the man holding him. Bruce. Peter tries to scream again, kicking and pushing Bruce away, but the man’s hold is tight. 

“Peter, Peter,” Bruce says quickly. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not under the spell.” Peter’s movement stills. What is happening? Seeing Peter’s confusion, Bruce says, “For some reason, the spell only affected the Hulk.” Bruce’s gaze at Peter is intense, “I need you to listen very carefully, I’m going to change back soon.” Bruce shakes his head, his face grimaced in pain as if he’s fighting the Hulk back. “You need to get out of the city. But they can track you, leave your phone and don’t use your credit card. Find someone to help you. Stay safe. Okay?” Bruce asks intensely. Peter nods rapidly. “You need to get out of here, but if it comes to a fight, you can’t beat them without fighting back,” Bruce advises.

“Bruce, I don’t want to kill them. I don’t want to hurt them,” Peter shakes his head.

Bruce smiles sadly, “I know, Peter. I know. But if it comes down to you or them, you have to choose yourself. They won’t show you any mercy.” 

“Why me?” Peter asks through tears.

Bruce hugs Peter, careful of his injuries. “I don’t know, Peter. I don’t know.” A loud crash causes both of them to look up. Bruce looks back at Peter, “You need to run. They’re getting closer.” Bruce lets go of Peter and pushes him towards the doors. Green starts to ripple through his neck. “Go!” Bruce shouts and Peter does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find all of my other fics on here if you want to check them out. All of my fics that are less than 1,000 words are posted sepertatly on my tumblr (tagged under 'my fic'). Please don't feel afraid to hmu on my tumblr with any comments or questions about any of my fics.
> 
> Tumblr: romeoandjulietyouwish
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOT WOOT we're getting to the good part! Thank you so much for all of the love and support this fic has been getting, I'm glad you guys are excited!

_Clint? It’s Peter. I need help. Really bad. I, um, something bad happened. Tony, Steve, Natasha...they all started attacking me. They tried to kill me...I don’t know where to go. I don’t know what to do. Please, Clint, I need help...I’m sorry. Please, I don’t know who else to call._

_I-It’s Peter again. I don’t know if you got my other message. But I’m really hurt. I think my ribs are broken and if I wait too long then they’ll heal wrong. My throat hurts too much to keep talking...I need you, Clint. Please. I got a burner phone so you can call me back at this number._

_Peter? I just got your message. What’s going on? Where are you? Call me back ASAP._

“Clint?” Peter asks, clutching the phone close to his ear. 

“Oh thank God,” Clint mutters. “Peter, are you okay?”

Peter shakes his head, “No. I need your help.”

“Okay, kid, where are you?” He asks quickly. 

Peter looks around, “I don’t know. I started running and running, but I got lost. I think I’m near that fancy Italian place Tony took us to once. Maybe a block away. Do you know where I’m talking about?”

“I do. I’ll be there as fast as I can. Stay out of sight.” 

“Thank you,” Peter gasps. “Thank you.”

“I’ll see you in a bit, kid.” Clint hangs up.

Peter wraps his arms around himself and leans back against the wall. He’s going to be okay. 

It’s dark now. Since Bruce told him to run, he’s done nothing but. He ran in circles, doubled back on himself, and took unnecessary turns for hours until he could hardly move. He collapsed into an empty alley about two hours ago after buying a burner phone. Thankfully the street seems to be pretty abandoned. 

Peter fiddles with the phone, his only chance of getting out of here. Thankfully, he had been able to get a hold of Clint. Before he had done so, he left messages to May and Ned before he called Clint. He thought about leaving a message for Tony, but he couldn’t even think of what to say.

Now, sitting alone in the dark, he has nothing left to do but think. He can’t stop thinking about the cold, dead eyes they all had, how they looked at him without really seeing him. Peter shivers when he remembers Natasha’s voice, telling him to die. He can still feel Bucky’s metal hand tightening around his throat, he doesn’t think he’ll forget it any time soon. 

And then there is Tony. Tony who had always protected Peter, showed him the love of a father, and never gave up on him. Tony who was just as determined to kill him as the rest of them. Peter sniffs, burying his face in his arms. What if he can’t figure this out? He’ll never be able to see any of them again. He’ll have to move away and keep off the radar. Or he could be caught. They could catch up to him before he even has a chance to solve it and he would be dead. Dead at the hands of his family. But then Peter pauses, if he were to die, would that end whatever spell or curse is on them?

Peter is thankfully cut off by a car pulling up to the curb. Peter instinctively shrinks back into the shadows, his legs curling up to his chest. 

“Peter?” Clint asks loudly as he climbs out of the car. “Peter where are you?”

“Clint,” Peter says, his voice cracking. As Clint turns to look at him, Peter jumps up and bolts into the man’s arms. Clint lets out a gasp of surprise before wrapping the kid into a hug. At this point, Peter doesn’t care that he’s injured, he doesn’t care that he doesn’t know Clint that well. All he cares about is that there is someone to help him. Clint’s arms are warm and strong as they wrap around Peter, taking most of his weight. After a moment Peter pulls away and allows Clint to look him over. 

“Shit, Peter,” Clint says upon seeing the bruises around Peter’s throat. “You said your ribs are broken too?” Peter nods. “Shit, how are you still alive?” 

“Healing factor,” Peter says. He looks at the car. “Can we go?”

“Of course,” Clint puts his arm around Peter’s shoulders and leads him to the car, opening the door for him. Inside the car, hot air blows out of the vents, stilling his shivering body.

“Where are we going?” Peter asks once Clint pulls away from the curb. 

“I have a safe house a few hours outside the city. Not even Nat knows about it so they won’t be able to find you,” Clint keeps his eyes on the road, but Peter can hear sadness and pain in his voice when he says Natasha’s name. “Can you tell me what happened?” 

Peter nods, “Um, yeah...” 

As Peter starts talking, he can see Clint’s face grow darker and darker. When he brings up Natasha, Peter’s afraid that Clint is going to break his teeth with how hard he is clenching his jaw. When he talks about Tony, Clint takes one hand off the wheel and squeezes Peter’s shoulder, “We’re going to figure this out, I promise.” And it strikes Peter that he’s never seen Clint this serious. Normally Clint is like his fun uncle who helps him play pranks and likes to tease everyone and climb into the vents to cause chaos. And Peter loves him because he is so different from the rest of the Avengers, but seeing Clint like this gives Peter a feeling he’s only felt around Tony and May. That everything is going to be okay, that he is safe, and that he doesn’t need to be afraid. 

Clint stops him when he mentions Bruce, “He was normal?”

Peter nods, “Yeah, at least that’s what he told me. If he had wanted to kill me, he had the perfect opportunity.”

“Okay...” Clint seems to be piecing things together, but then he just shakes his head. “That just gives me so many more questions.”

“I know,” Peter says hopelessly. 

Clint sighs, “Let’s not think about this right now. Let’s just get to the safe house, get you all patched up, and we can do all the thinking in the morning.”

Peter nods, “Sounds good to me.” He yawns.

They sit in silence for the rest of the ride. Clint occasionally asks Peter how his chest and neck feel, but other than that, Peter stares out the window and eventually falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out my Tumblr for all of my fics that are less than 1000 words. All of them are tagged under 'my fic' so they should be easy to find! I also have a ton of other fics here on ao3 that you should feel free to check out!
> 
> Tumblr: @romeoandjulietyouwish
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for being so patient for this update! I am pleased with how this fic is going and I'm happy that you guys like it as much as I do.

Peter remains asleep for the duration of the car ride, his cheek pillowed against his hand. Clint shakes Peter awake a few hours later. Peter blinks his eyes open and looks up at Clint, “We here?”

Clint nods, “Yep. Let’s get inside and get you patched up.”

Peter nods and opens the door, taking his backpack with him. In front of them is a small house, one story, with a winding path to the front door. The house is surrounded by a forest. No lights are on inside, but the moon illuminates the yard. The driveway is covered with leaves and pine needles that crunch under Peter’s shoes as he walks. 

Clint leads Peter up to the door, unlocking it with a soft click, and walks into the house. The front door opens up to a hallway. To the left is the living room. All of the furniture is covered with large white sheets and Peter can see thick layers of dust coating the bookshelf and window sill. Moonlight creeps in through the dust-covered windows. 

As Peter drops his bag in the foyer, Clint begins to walk through the house flicking on the lights. After a moment, Peter begins to follow Clint through the house. The floorboards squeak when he steps on them, the noise echoing through the empty house. Peter walks up to the first door on his left. The knob lets out a high pitched squeak when he turns it. Inside is a bedroom. The bed, like the other furniture, is covered by a sheet. The bedroom is small, only filled with a bed and a dresser. No personal items or photos are in the room, as if no one has ever lived here. 

Peter ducks out of the bedroom and walks down the hall, opening more doors. He finds a bathroom on the right and another bedroom on the left, all as abandoned as the rest of the house. The end of the hallway opens into a small kitchen and dining room. That’s where Peter finds Clint as the man pulls a first aid kit out from under the sink. 

He looks up at Peter, “Hey, kid. How about while I go turn on the heating, you find something in the cupboards to heat up for dinner?” He leans against the counter, “After we eat I can help you with your injuries.” Peter nods and doesn’t say anything. Clint sighs, “Alright, bring it in, kid.” Clint opens his arms and Peter looks at him with confusion. Clint rolls his eyes and tugs Peter into a hug. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out.” Peter nods against his chest. Clint squeezes Peter tightly once more before letting go. “I’ll be back in a sec.” Peter nods and watches Clint leave the kitchen. 

Once Peter is alone, he starts rummaging through the cupboards above the sink. All of the food left inside are cans, most with a thin layer of dust on top. Reaching into the cupboard, Peter shifts the cans around. He brushes past a can of peaches, green beans, and corn before settling on two cans of tomato soup with faded labels. The cans make a soft clunk as he sets them on the counter and Peter finds himself hating the way sound echoes through the house. As Peter searches for a pot Clint comes back into the kitchen and starts open the cans of soup. When Peter finds one in one of the drawers beside the sink he sets it gently on the stove and backs away from Clint. He ignores the concerned look Clint gives him when he tugs the sleeves of his sweatshirt over his hands and sits down. 

“Clint?” Peter asks, breaking the silence. 

Clint looks up to Peter from where he is pouring the can into the pot, “Yeah?”

“What do you think happened to them?”

Clint sighs and sits down in the chair beside Peter, “I have no idea. They must have gotten possessed or something or someone, but I...I don’t know.”

“What if we can’t get them back?”

“In all honesty, I’m not sure. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Clint pats Peter’s shoulder. “Let’s have some dinner, yeah?” Peter nods. 

They eat in silence. Peter’s mind keeps spinning round and round, the same questions resurfacing. He shakes his head and forces himself to focus on something else. The way the soup tastes, the chill of the room, Clint’s stony composure as he eats. He tells himself over and over that everything is going to be fine, that they can figure this out, but deep down he doesn’t believe it. Not in the slightest. 

“How about I clean dishes and you get the first aid stuff ready?” Clint offers and Peter nods. 

He grabs the first aid kit from the counter and quietly clicks it open. Peter carefully pulls bandages, painkillers, antiseptic wipes, and a bunch of other stuff he doesn’t recognize. When Clint sits back down in front of him, Peter slides his shirt over his head. Clint’s warm hands gently prob Peter’s ribs, he winces. 

“The good news is I don’t think they’re broken. Maybe cracked or fractured,” Clint explains. “There’s not much we can do, so just don’t wear anything too tight around your ribs and sleep on your back.” Peter nods. He stays silent while Clint moves on to the bruises on his neck. After a moment, Clint tells him that Bucky didn’t even damage his vocal cords, so they just need to wait for the bruises to heal. Then he begins to clean the cuts that litter Peter’s side, picking out the glass and covering the larger ones with band-aids. “You’re all set,” Clint says as he puts all of the stuff back in the first aid box. “Why don’t we go to sleep and we can start working in the morning?”

“Okay,” Peter says quietly. Clint gives Peter one more hug before guiding him to the bedroom furthest from the door. “G’night,” Peter says lazily.

Clint smiles sadly, “Goodnight, Peter.” He shuts the lights off and closes the door. Despite the day that Peter has had, his body is exhausted. The second his head hits the pillow he is out like a light. 

Sometime in the middle of the night, Peter is woken up by his bedroom door creaking open. He blearily opens his eyes to see a figure in the doorway, backlit by the hall light. 

“Clint?” He asks slowly. Then the figure begins to walk into the room, then two more, and another until Peter loses track of how many people are in his room. His eyes fly open, his heart pounding in his chest as his spider-sense goes crazy, screaming that he’s in danger. Peter opens his mouth to scream when a hand is clapped over his mouth. A second hand starts pinching his nose and he is being driven back into the bed. Peter kicks his legs and flails his arms, trying to hit whoever is holding him down, but someone else grabs his arms and legs, keeping him still. His throat screams in pain as he fights for air. Black spots dance across his vision.

“Wait!” A voice hisses, “We want him alive.”

“We don’t,” the person holding him says. 

“Yes, we do,” a third voice says and, to Peter, it sounds an awful lot like Clint. 

“Fine.”

The last thing Peter feels before a wave of black swallows him is a sharp sting in his arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions or comments, please either message me on tumblr or leave a comment. I love hearing from you guys and I always love answering questions about my writing.
> 
> Tumblr: @romeoandjulietyouwish
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a bit longer than I wanted, but ya know how it is. thank you all for being so patient and leaving such encouraging comments.

Peter wakes up slowly. He blinks heavily as his mind goes in and out of focus. His entire body feels heavy as if his veins have been filled with lead. He hears snippets of conversations, but he can’t put anything together or focus on the words. Forcing his eyes open, he blinks slowly. He manages to keep his eyes open for a few seconds. It’s too bright he can see nothing but vague outlines of two people standing in front of him. His eyes close of their own volition. 

Sometime later, Peter wakes up again. This time his body is lighter and his eyes open freely. 

“He’s awake!” Someone calls. 

Peter lifts his head to see Natasha standing above him, gun dangling dangerously from her fingers. She gives him a cold glare that makes him avert his eyes. He’s tied tightly to a chair in the middle of the living room of Clint’s safe house. _How did they find it? What happened to Clint?_ And then Clint walks in beside Steve. He’s not tied up like Peter, he wears Clint’s normal easy smile but with no emotion behind it.

“Clint!” Peter calls, trying to draw his attention. “Clint, please help me! What’s going on?” 

Clint laughs cooly and imitates Peter, “Clint, please help me!” Natasha smirks. 

As Clint walks closer to Peter, he feels dread growing in the pit of his stomach, “Clint?” He asks, his voice small. Then he meets the man’s eyes. Empty. Peter shudders, Clint’s gone too. What does that mean? Was Clint gone when he picked him up in the city? Peter frowns, no because Clint has about a thousand ways to kill him since then. Unless he needed to wait until the rest of them got here. That would make sense, but what didn’t make sense is that Peter had not suspected Clint at all. His instincts about people were right most of the time, so he trusts himself. The rest of the Avengers somehow manipulated Clint to work with them.

“Where’s Stark?” Steve asks as he looks around the room. Wanda sits with her legs crossed on the couch, Steve and Natasha stand in front of Peter, and Clint is perched on the edge of the coffee table. But no Tony, or Hulk for that matter.

She looks Peter dead in the eye when she says, “You’d think he’d want to be here when we torture his protege.” Peter shrinks in his chair, ducking his head. Natasha laughs sharply, “Look how afraid he is.”

“Can we get started already?” Wanda asks impatiently as she braids a small strand of her hair. “I can’t stand being in the same room as him anymore.”

“What did I do?” Peter asks, looking at all of them in turn. “Please, I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Clint glares at Peter, “You’ve been a thorn in our side for far too long now. I can’t believe Stark took you in in the first place. You’ve caused us nothing but pain since we met you,” Clint says venomously. Peter opens his mouth to ask another question, but he is cut off by Clint slamming his fist into his cheek. Peter’s head painfully snaps to the side and he feels tears welling up in his eyes. Not from the pain, but from the fact that the man that he trusted to keep him safe hates him just as much as the rest of them. 

“Oh look, he’s gonna cry,” Wanda mocks, pouting her lip. 

“Wanda, will you go find Tony?” Steve asks. Wanda sighs but does. 

Peter looks up at Steve, Clint, and Natasha, but they don’t seem to be paying attention to him. He experimentally tugs against the thick ropes holding him in place. They don't budge. He’s not going to get out by sheer force. So how then? He can probably cut the ropes if he can find something sharp enough. Peter sighs and gives up, it’s no use right now. 

Peter is snapped out of his reverie by Tony and Wanda walking in. For a brief second, he feels his heart lift at the sight of Tony, but then it slams back down into his chest when he remembers that Tony wants to kill him.

"What do you want, Rogers?" Tony asks as he takes his place between Natasha and Steve facing Peter, crossing his arms.

"We didn't want to start without you," Natasha replies without taking her eyes off Peter. 

“Wow, guys, that’s touching, truly,” Tony says sarcastically. 

“Stark.” Natasha says as though Tony is testing her patience, he probably is.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tony rolls his eyes and steps towards Peter. Peter leans back into the chair, trying to put as much distance between the two as he can. Tony’s face is expressionless as he leans forward and says, “Now, if you tell us everything we need to know, we won’t hurt you.” Clint scoffs, Tony turns around and glares at him. Peter’s breathing quickens. Tony looks back at Peter, his expression seemingly kind. “Now, are you a spy?” He asks gently. 

Peter shakes his head, “No, I’m not,” he says quickly. Before he can even register what’s happening, Tony punches him across the face. 

“Liar,” Tony hisses. “We already know you’re a Hydra spy.”

“No!” Peter exclaims, “Please believe me, I’m not!” Tony punches him again, harder this time. 

“Stop lying, boy,” Tony spits venomously. 

“Why are you spying on us?” Steve asks, pushing Tony slightly back. 

“Please,” Peter cries desperately. “I’m not a spy. You’re my friends I would never-”

Steve slams another punch to Peter’s face, this time Peter bites his lip to keep from screaming as he feels his nose break under the impact, “We are not your friends.” He leans closer, “One more try, why are you spying on us.” Peter says nothing. “Answer me!” Steve shouts, slamming his hands on the arms of Peter’s chair. Peter flinches back. 

“I-I-I’m not a spy,” Peter whimpers. “Steve, please...”

Steve’s expression doesn’t falter as he sends a sharp punch to Peter’s cheek. Peter lets go of all his strength, collapsing in his chair and allowing tears to flow freely down his cheeks, mixing with the blood and a bout of hopelessness. Maybe if he looks broken enough they’ll give up.

“Steve...please,” Peter chokes out. “Please, you know me.”

“No I don’t,” Steve hisses. “Why were you spying on us? What is Hydra planning?”

“I don’t know!” Peter shouts. He braces for a punch but it doesn’t come.

Steve turns to Wanda, “Wanda, want to give it a try?” Steve offers as he steps back. Wanda leaps off the couch and steps daintily in front of Peter with a wicked smile. Peter is terrified, he’s heard from Tony and Steve how strong her mind control is. She can make him see his worst nightmare or live through his most traumatic memory. Peter tries to jerk his head away from her as she reaches for his temples. She grabs his head sharply and snaps it forwards. Peter thrashes, trying to shake her off, but her grip is like iron. Her eyes close and Peter braces himself. 

The pain is worse than he could have possibly imagined. 

It feels like his brain is being torn in two from the inside and like his mind is on fire simultaneously. He screams loudly, jerking around wildly in the chair. He knows his wrists and ankles will hurt later, but he can’t bring himself to care right now. After a few moments, the pain thankfully lets up. 

Peter collapses in relief, breathing heavily. 

“Why are you spying on us?” Wanda asks. 

Peter shakes his head, unable to breathe, “‘m not...a...spy.” Wanda doesn’t say anything, but the pain comes slamming back in like a freight train. Peter tries to fight against it, but he can’t. Then he makes a choice, he knows that they won’t give up while he’s still breathing. But maybe it would at least stall them if he passed out. He hopes Wanda can’t hear his thoughts. But they seem quiet compared to the excruciating pain slamming through his head. When the pain lets up, Peter falls like a rag doll against the chair, his eyes closing. He forces his breathing to be slower.

“Is he unconscious?” Natasha asks. “Check him, Wanda.” Peter quickly wipes his mind blank, thinking of nothing.

“He’s out.”

“Shit,” Tony says. “Get Hulk in here to watch him until he wakes up.”

“Will do,” Clint replies. Peter hears everyone walk out of the room. He uses his enhanced hearing to double-check the room is empty before opening his eyes. 

He needs to think fast. He most likely has a few minutes before Bruce comes in. His eyes flit around the room searching for something, _anything_ to help get out of here. Then his eyes land on a glass vase on the coffee table. If he can somehow get it to break he could use a shard of glass to cut through the ropes. But that’ll be too loud. He bites his lips. He doesn’t have much time. He quickly scans the room again but finds nothing. As Peter noted when he arrived, the house is seemingly void of knick-knacks or personal possessions.

And then he’s out of time. 

Hulk comes lumbering in, stopping in his tracks when he sees Peter. He opens his mouth to shout for someone, but Peter stops him. “Hulk!” He whispers yells. “Wait!” Hulk glares at Peter but doesn’t say anything. “The sun’s getting low, really low, Bruce,” Peter says gently. “Please, I need you. The sun is getting low,” he repeats desperately over and over. “Bruce, I know you’re in there and I need you right now. The sun is getting low, the sun is getting low, Bruce please.” Tears leak from Peter’s eyes. Hulk stares at him for a moment then starts blinking rapidly. 

Then Bruce is in front of him.

“Bruce!” Peter cries quietly when he sees the man. 

“Peter,” Bruce rushes towards him. “Oh my god, did they do this to you?” He asks gently, taking in Peter’s bloody face and touching his cheek. Peter nods, sniffing. “Hold on, I’ll get you out.” Bruce searches in his pants pocket and fishes out a knife. Peter nearly sobs when Bruce starts cutting through the ropes. 

Peter’s wrists and ankles are red and bleeding in some places from where he tugged against them when Wanda was hurting him. Once all the ropes are off of Peter, Bruce pulls Peter into a tight hug on the floor.

“Peter, you need to get out of here,” Bruce says against the top of his head. 

“Come with me,” Peter whimpers. “ _Please_.”

Bruce shakes his head, “I’m so sorry, Peter. I can’t. The Hulk is a danger to you. You need to get away from all of us to be safe.” Bruce takes Peter’s face between his hands and wipes away his tears. 

“Bruce-”

“It’s going to be okay, Peter,” Bruce comforts. “You can figure this out and get us all back.” Bruce pulls Peter into another hug and kisses the top of his head. “Now go, I’ll cover you.”

“Where should I go?” Peter asks desperately. 

“Stephen Strange, he lives on Bleecker Street,” Bruce. “He can help you.” Peter nods quickly. “I’ll cover you. Run for the door.” Peter nods again and he stands up. Bruce follows him and gives him a gentle shove to the door. 

So Peter runs.

He darts out of the living room and takes a sharp right and throws the front door open. He sprints down the front steps and the path from the driveway. His feet thud against the tar, small sticks and pine needles snapping under his feet. Above him, the sun beats down on him, blinding him is he turns the wrong direction. He comes to a halt at the end of the driveway. Left or right? He was asleep when he got here. Shit. He makes a random choice and takes a left. Peter makes it a few hundred feet before something grabs him around his waist and slams him into the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

Above him is none other than Tony Stark. 

“Going somewhere?” He asks menacingly. 

Tony uses his left forearm to hold Peter to the ground. Normally this wouldn’t be enough to hold Peter in place. But, the shock of the blow and the pain of it being from Tony holds him in place. But not for long. Peter sends his knee into Tony’s stomach, effectively knocking him off of himself. Peter jumps to his feet and tries to run, but Tony grabs him again. Peter has never fought against Tony when they weren’t pulling their punches, but know he understands how truly powerful Tony is. 

Tony fights ruthlessly as he slams his fists over and over again into Peter’s arms that he holds protectively over his face and chest. Peter tries not to cry. He doesn’t want to hurt Tony, he doesn’t want to fight him. But fighting defensively isn’t working too well for him. He is covered with blood and he is exhausted and he knows that Tony has the upper hand. So he decides to try something else.

“Tony, please,” Peter cries. “It’s me, it’s Peter. You’re my mentor. Please, Tony yu taught me how to tie a tie. You taught me how to drive.” In talking, Peter accidentally dropped his defense and gives Tony and opening. Tony kicks Peter’s knee and gets him to the ground. Tony holds him roughly against the asphalt, pressing Peter’s cheek harshly into the ground. 

“Shut up,” Tony growls

“No!” Peter shouts. “Please, Tony. I love you. You’re my dad, Tony, please,” He whimpers desperately, “Please remember me...”

For a moment, Peter thinks Tony’s facade is falling apart. He thinks he’s going to break into a smile, pull him into his arms, and tell him he’s sorry. But that doesn’t happen. Instead, Tony lifts Peter to his feet and punches him square in the throat. Peter chokes and stumbles backward. Tony’s eyes stay on him as he crumbles down.

But Peter doesn’t hit the ground. 

Instead, he keeps falling. Above him he sees the trees falling away and become encircled by a ring of orange and gold light, spinning sparks. And then he back meets with a soft bed and the portal above him disappears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my tumblr (@romeoandjulietyouwish) for all of my shorter fics and thank you so much for reading! As always I am here to answer any questions you may have.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! This update came two days before I was expecting it to be done because I just couldn't leave you guys hanging like that. This chapter is longer than any academic paper I've ever written so I hope you enjoy.

_Peter stands on the roof of the tower, facing the city. Cold wind bites at his cheeks, but he doesn’t shiver. The city in front of his isn’t the same city he loves. No, in front of him is a grey hellscape. All of the buildings, roads, and cars are a dull grey. Even the sun._

_“Turn around, Spiderling,” a familiar voice says. Peter does as he says his hands trembling slightly. He catches a gasp when he sees the man. Clint cocks his head to the side when he asks, “Any last words?”_

_“Clint, what’s going on?” Peter furrows his brow. He takes a step towards Clint._

_“Those aren’t good last words, but fine by me.” Without explaining, Clint takes Peter’s shoulders, draws him close, and shoves him backward. Peter gasps as he loses his footing and falls off the edge of the building. He grabs at the air, but nothing can save him now. He reaches upwards as Clint’s face disappears above him._

_Then Peter is sitting on the couch in the living room. He is between Natasha and Bucky. On the chair to the left is Clint with Wanda perched on the arm. Tony sits in the other chair, a newspaper held tightly between his hands and Steve and the Hulk stand across from him. As Peter looks around, they all seem to be talking and laughing, but Peter can hear none of the noise. He stands up, but no one acknowledges him. He walks slowly around the room, waving in front of their eyes and gently touching their arms and shoulders. But none of them see him or react to his presence._

_Finally, Peter steps in front of the one person he has yet to check. The one person who he truly believes will see him, Tony. Peter reaches out and brushes his cold fingertips against Tony’s hand. Simultaneously, a sharp ringing snaps through his head. He gasps and falls to his knees, clutching at his head._

_“You’re going to die,” an echoey voice says in his ear. The words bounce around in his head, repeating over and over, driving Peter crazy as he crumples to the ground._

_Then the noise is gone with a soft snap._

_When he sits up again, Tony stands in front of Peter, pointing a gun at his forehead. Peter trembles, he knows he’s begging Tony not to pull the trigger, but he can’t hear himself talking._

_“I never should have taken you in, I never should have allowed you to be close to me,” Tony says without emotion. “Go to hell.” He pulls the trigger._

“Peter!” A sharp voice says. “Peter, you’re having a nightmare. You need to wake up.”

Peter jerks awake clutching the blankets close to his chest. His breathing is erratic and his spider-sense screams that he’s in danger. In the low lighting, Peter can’t see anything, but he can feel hands on his arm. He thrashes harshly, jerking away from the hands.

“Peter, I’m not going to hurt you,” Stephen says calmly. “You’re safe. You’re here at the sanctum. It’s just the two of us. Can you take a deep breath?” Peter nods and tries to force air into his lungs. “Good job. Now, do you think you can keep taking deep breaths while I talk?” Peter nods. “Okay. You’re okay, Tony isn’t here. Steve isn’t here. Clint isn’t here. None of them can hurt you here. It’s just you and me here. And Wong, but he’s not going to hurt you. You’re okay. They can’t hurt you here. I’m going to keep you safe. I won’t let them hurt you.”

Peter nods, his lungs began to allow him to breathe, “I’m safe. I’m okay.” 

Stephen nods, “Peter, can I touch you?” Peter nods and he feels a shaky hand holding his, squeezing in a soothing rhythm. “How are you feeling?” 

“Better.” Peter looks over at the thick curtains drawn over the windows. “Uh, Dr. Strange-”

“Stephen.”

“Stephen,” Peter corrects. “What time is it?”

“Eleven, I thought it was best to let you sleep in, you’ve been asleep for fifteen hours.” Stephen uses his magic to flip on the lights. Peter can see the dark circles under the sorcerer's eyes and knows he probably has a matching pair. Stephen is wearing jeans and a soft t-shirt, whenever Peter has met the man, he was always wearing his robes. Peter looks down at himself and finds he is wearing a matching set of pajamas, not his own. He curiously lifts his shirt up to his ribs. The bandages Clint has wrapped around them are gone and there is no indication that he was ever injured. 

“I healed all of your injuries,” Stephen explains when he sees Peter’s confusion. “Let me know if anything still hurts.” 

Peter nods, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Stephen stands up, his hand pulling out of Peter’s. “Now, Wong’s brought us lunch, do you feel up to eat now?” Peter nods and he pulls himself out of the bed. Stephen gives him a sympathetic look and leads Peter out of the bedroom. 

“Do you think we can help them?” Peter asks quietly. 

Stephen sighs, “I hope so.” Stephen puts his arm around the boy’s shoulder. “But no matter what happens, you’re going to be okay.”

“That’s what Clint said,” Peter looks down at his feet. “Now he’s just as brainwashed as the rest of them.” 

“I’m sorry, Peter,” Stephen says. “Truly I am. What you’ve been through, I can imagine few things more painful.” Stephen squeezes Peter’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s have some lunch, we can talk about this later.”

It turns out that Wong brought Chinese food from the take-out place a few blocks away, an Avenger’s favorite. He hears Wong and Stephen talking quietly as they dish up their plates, but he doesn’t feel like listening to them. He knows the two of them occasionally give him worried glances, but he ignores them. He doesn’t need their concern. He’s fine. _He’s not._

As Peter puts down his fork he asks, “What do we do now?”

“Do you think you’re okay to talk to me about what happened?” He asks gently. Peter nods. “Then I need you to tell me everything about what happened, every detail, no matter how small. Can you do that for me?”

Peter nods, “Can we go somewhere else, like somewhere more comfortable? It’s kinda a long story.”

Stephen nods, “Follow me.”

Stephen leads Peter to a small parlor. A fire is lit in the fireplace and the two couches are covered with soft blankets. It seems homey, but Peter can’t imagine Stephen using this room in other circumstances. Peter sits on the couch furthest from the door, curling his legs to his chest and wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.

“How do you know I’m going to be safe here?” Peter asks once Stephen is settled across from him. “How do you know they won’t find me?”

“I have protective wards, I’ll know the second any of them are within 100 feet of here. The words won’t allow them to get in, you’re perfectly safe.”

“Okay,” Peter says quietly. 

“Now, Peter I need you to tell me everything. This is the only way we can solve this.” Stephen says. Peter nods. 

“Um, I think it started when I was in school three days ago. I saw all of them fighting this wizard or sorcerer. I called Tony to ask if I could help but he said no.” Peter tugs on his sleeves. 

“So they weren’t...different then?” 

Peter shakes his head, “I don’t think so. Tony sound the same on the phone.”

“What color magic was the wizard using?”

Peter thinks for a moment, “Um, I think it was purple and...and green.” Stephen nods and tells him to keep going. “The rest of the day was normal. I finished school for the day. Happy picked me up afterword. Oh, um, in the car he told me that all of them were feeling...down. He said the guy got away.”

“Curious.”

Peter nods, “Anyway when I got to the Tower, FRIDAY didn’t turn on. I figured that Tony was just fixing her or something, but now I think he turned her off so she couldn’t warn me. I went to get a snack and that’s when I saw Natasha.”

“Was she the first one of them you had seen?”

“Yeah. She was being really weird. Um, she had this look in her eyes, they all did, it was like...they were empty.”

Stephen frowns, “Empty?”

“Like there wasn’t anyone behind them,” Peter explains. “Everything else about them was normal except for their eyes and the fact that they were trying to kill me.”

“Go on.”

“Um, I fought off Nat, Wanda, and Bucky. Then I ran down the stairs and found Tony and Steve. I tried to tell them what was happening but they didn’t listen. They started running at me, so I ran. I jumped through a window and ran. Hulk cornered me in an alley but I escaped. I hid in a store and changed my clothes, but before I was able to leave, Bruce stopped me.”

“Bruce?”

Peter nods, “He was normal. He didn’t try to hurt me and his eyes were just as they had always been. He told me to run and to find help, that the Hulk was trying to take over again.” 

“Strange,” Stephen murmurs, “that he was normal. Whatever spell or enchantment was on them only affected the Hulk.” He taps his chin, “Perhaps he was out when the spell or enchantment was put on him instead of Bruce.”

“Spell or enchantment?” Peter asks. 

Stephen nods, “Whatever sorcerer they were fighting that morning somehow put a spell on all of them, making them think that you are an enemy. Tell me, Peter, did they ever call you by a different name?”

Peter shakes his head, “No,” he pauses, “but they did call me a Hydra spy.” Stephen’s eyes go wide. Peter frowns, “What?”

Stephen waves his hand, “I have a theory, but first I want to hear about Clint.”

“Uh, I called Clint the same night. I knew he hadn't been fighting with them and that he wouldn’t be brainwashed. He came and picked me up. He was the same as always. He took me to a safe house outside the city. He took care of my injuries and put me to bed.” Peter sniffs and fights off the tears at the painful memories, “I woke up in the middle of the night to my door being opened and a bunch of people walking in. One of them tried to smother me, but someone told him to stop, that they needed me alive.” He wipes his eyes. “They gave me some sort of drug. When I woke up I was tied to a chair and Clint was one of them.”

Stephen hands Peter a tissue, “I am so sorry, Peter. I can’t imagine how horrible that must have been.” Peter nods. “Are you okay?” He nods again. “Alright. I’m going to tell you what I think happened.” He leans forward on his legs, “I think that morning when they were fighting the wizard he protected himself by putting a spell on them. He changed their memories of you to believe that you’re a Hydra spy so they’d want to kill you. They somehow tracked you to Clint’s safehouse and as soon as you went to sleep, the same spell was put on Clint.”

“Can it be undone?” Peter asks. He squeezes the tissue into a tight ball. 

“Yes.” Stephen says with conviction. “All spells can be undone by a Sorcerer Supreme.” Peter nods and bites his lip. “Is there something else, Peter?”

“Why me?” Peter asks, the words cracking slightly. “Why did he pick me? I mean he could have picked anyone.”

“I don’t know,” Stephen says. “Logically, he shouldn’t have even known about you.”

Peter sighs, “So what now? How are we supposed to find him?”

Stephen gives him a small smile, “Leave that up to me. I don’t want you to worry right now. I’ll give you my phone so you can talk to your family while I start working.”

“Are you sure I can’t do anything to help?”

Stephen smiles, “Positive. I’m sure your aunt is waiting by the phone to hear from you. 

“Thank you, Stephen,” Peter says as he takes the phone with a grateful smile.

Stephen leaves the room and then Peter is left alone with the phone. As he dials May’s number, he can’t help but remember the last time he did this. He was alone and sure he was going to die and so very very desperate. 

_May? It’s Peter. I’m calling from a burner. Um, something happened. I’m in a lot of trouble right now. They’re trying to kill me and I need to get off the streets. I’m, uh, I’m not going to be coming home for a while. I don’t want to accidentally make you part of this. But, uh, if something happens to me I want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry. May, I love you. Uh, if I’m not back when school starts again on Monday, can you tell them I’m on vacation? I don’t want anyone to worry too much. I’m so sorry, May. I’m sorry. I love you so much._

__

_Hi, Ned. It’s Peter. Look, something’s gone wrong. I need to leave the city for a while. You won’t hear from me for a bit. I’m sorry, Ned. Please don’t worry about me. But, if anything happens to me, I want you to know that I love you. So much, Ned. Thank you for being my best friend and my ‘guy in the chair’. I love you, Ned._

Peter shakes his head and presses call. 

“Hello?” May asks. Her voice is scratchy. 

“May?” He asks. “It’s Peter.”

“Oh my god, _Peter_ ,” she gasps. “Are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’m with Doctor Strange,” Peter explains. “He’s helping me. I think I’m going to be okay.”

“What’s going on?” Her voice is filled with motherly concern. “Are you hurt?”

Peter shakes his head, “I’ll tell you when we’re completely out of it. But I just called to let you know I’m okay. I’m not hurt.”

“Peter, I swear to god you better be fine. I’m going to kill you if you’re dying,” she says. 

Peter chuckles, “I swear I’m okay, May.”

“I tried calling Tony but he didn’t answer,” she says. “He never picked up or called me back. What’s going on with him? Is he okay?” She pauses, “Wait, why are you with Doctor Strange and not Tony?”

Peter sighs, “May, it’ll take too long to explain. I just want you to know that I’m alright. I need to go now, okay?”

“Peter! Do not hang up this phone-”

“Bye, May. I love you,” Peter sniffs. 

“I love you too, honey,” May answers quickly. “But-” 

Peter hangs up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you so much for reading. Comments are literally the reason I finished this so fast so give me some motivation!
> 
> Also hit up my tumblr for all of my shorter fic or just to say hi! @romeoandjulietyouwish
> 
> <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the love this fic has been getting. I'm not too happy with this chapter, but I want to finish this fic before school starts up again.
> 
> Be careful, at the end of this chapter Peter deals with some suicidal thoughts and it will continue into the next chapter.

Peter’s room in the Scantum is silent except for the soft huffs of his breath. But he feels safe. He trusts Stephen. But he can’t help but feel anxious. He’s sitting in a bare room, his only personal possession being his backpack, and he’s waiting. Waiting for Stephen to appear in the doorway and tell him that he found their guy. That they’re going to be able to get everyone back. But he’s been sitting here for over two hours and he’s heard nothing. 

He’s twisting a string between his fingers, but it doesn’t stave his need to be doing something. Something to help. But as he thinks of all the things he wishes he could be doing, he wants nothing more than to be sitting beside Tony in their lab. He wants to hear the soft music in the background, while he rants to Tony about his new idea for web fluid. And Tony would listen to every word and then work with Peter on how his dreams would become reality. 

But he’s not there and Tony is trying to kill him. 

Peter is startled out of his thoughts by, “Can I come in?” Stephen asks from where he is standing in the door frame. Peter nods and shifts to make room on the bed for Stephen to sit beside him. 

“Did you find him?” Peter asks quietly. 

“Her.” Stephen corrects. “Her name is Anabelle Penmark. I was able to track her to a house in Cleveland.”

“Cleveland? What was she doing in New York?”

Stephen shrugs, “I’ll be sure to ask her when I see her.”

“We.” Peter says. He looks up at Stephen. “We’ll ask her when we see her.”

“Peter, you know Tony wouldn’t want you to go. He would want you to stay safe.” Stephen explains. “I don’t want you getting hurt on my watch.”

Peter scoffs, “You just expect me to stay here? While you go and fight the person that hurt my family? How can you ask me to do that?” He asks, his voice thick with anger. “I want to help!”

“You can’t help,” Stephen says. “You don’t have your suit and you’re not a sorcerer. I don’t want to bring you into a situation that you could get hurt.”

Peter shakes his head, “I can understand that, but if you won’t let me fight, can I come with?” When the sorcerer gives him a look, Peter quickly says, “I’ll stay out of the way, I just want to hear what she says. You can wear a comm and I’ll listen, but I won’t do anything. I promise.”

“Peter, you won’t hear anything,” Stephen says. “As soon as I see her I’m going to knock her out and bring her back here. She won’t have a chance to say anything.”

“But what if something happens that you don’t expect?” Peter’s eyes are wide and innocent. “What if she turns you against me too?”

“Peter...”

“Please.” Peter clenches his hands together. “Let me come.”

Stephen sighs, “Alright. Go get your jacket. Be ready in ten.”

Fifteen minutes later, Stephen and Peter are standing in the foyer. Stephen gives Peter one last look before opening a portal to a sunny lake. Peter hesitantly follows Stephen into the portal. He winces, the portal feels like intense heat, but also like unbearably cold. When he emerges on the other side, Stephen puts a hand on his shoulder to steady him, “You’ll get used to it.” He gives Peter an encouraging smile and Peter looks up. They’re standing at the edge of a lake, the sun’s reflection blinding him. Across the lake is a small house.

“Now, here is your comm,” Stephen puts a small device in Peter’s hand which he sticks in his ear. “You’re going to stay on this side of the lake until I come to get you, okay?” Peter sighs. And with that, Stephen vanishes. 

He hears static in his comm before Stephen says, "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Peter responds. 

"I'm going into the house now. I'm going to knock her out with a spell and then portal back, got it?"

Peter nods, "Yep."

Through the comm, he hears a creaking door then footsteps. 

"Who are you?" A soft voice asks. Her voice is unfamiliar to Peter. "What are you-"

She is cut off by a loud thunk. Peter assumes she is unconscious. He smiles to himself, they did it. They're really going to save everyone.

He waits for Stephen to appear in front of him again, but he doesn't. Instead,.Peter finds himself dropping through a portal that appeared at his feet. Peter gasps as his feet land firmly on the ground of the Sanctum. He looks up to see Stephen standing beside him, helping him regain his footing. A woman, he assumes to be Anabelle, sits tied to a chair in front of them with magic ropes. 

"Peter," Stephen says softly, "let me ask the questions and stay behind me no matter what." Peter nods and moves to stand behind Stephen. "Your name is Anabelle correct?" Stephen asks as he walks closer to Anabelle.

"Who wants to know?" She snarls, but king against the ropes. 

"The Sorcerer Supreme," the man responds with authority. "Are you responsible for the spell put on the Avengers to kill Peter?"

Anabelle smirks, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do!" Peter exclaims stepping beside Stephen. "You did this to me!" Stephen gives Peter a stern look.

She laughs, "Sure thing, Spiderman."

Stephen and Peter freeze. "How do know that?" Stephen asks as he steps protectively in front of Peter. 

"I have my ways." Peter’s chest feels like it’s going to cave in. His life is over. 

"No. We need to know how you found out. Did someone tell you? Who?" Stephen bangs his hand on the wall, "Who!" Peter shrinks away from the motion with a flinch. Thankfully Stephen is facing the other way and doesn’t notice.

"I figured it out," Anabelle says simply, with all the pride of a serial killer admitting his crimes. 

Peter pulls Stephen aside, anxious tears fill his eyes, “What are we going to do? What if she told someone?”

Stephen puts a calming hand on Peter’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now we need to know how to reverse the spell.” Peter nods and sniffs.

Stephen turns back to Anabelle, “Why did you put a spell on the Avengers?”

“Because they killed my family,” she hisses. “My husband and my beautiful son,” she sobs, “They were just coming home when they were murdered in the streets. No one came. No one cared. Tony Stark didn’t care that my son was his employee and had worked for him for ten years! No one was able to save them. No one cared that I had lost everyone in the world I cared about.”

“So you took this out on us?!” Peter yells, gesturing wildly. His cheeks are wet with tears. “How does that make any sense?!”

“I want Stark to feel the same way I did when I found out they were murdered!” She cries. “I want him to feel the same pain I did, knowing no one would help me!”

“Why me?” Peter asks, tears spilling down his cheeks. “What did I do for you to make me the target?”

She gives him a wicked smile, “Because you’re the only one whose death would be an unimaginable burden to Tony Stark.” Peter’s eyes fill with fear as he chokes down a sob. She laughs, “Can you just imagine: Stark kills you. He comes to to himself standing over your dead body with no memory of what happened. Then he’ll look down and see the blood on his hands and he’ll know he killed you.”

“Why include the rest of the Avengers?” Stephen asks, tightening the ropes around her. 

She smiles, “That was just more fun for me. Once they know that Peter died at their hands, they’ll tear each other apart. Blame themselves, blame each other, then poof. No more Avengers.” Peter covers his sob by clapping his hand over his mouth. 

“Peter, I think you need to step out,” Stephen says. 

Peter shakes his head, “No. I’m alright.” He wipes his cheeks and sniffs. “Please let me stay.”

Stephen sighs, “Okay, but you can leave if you need to.” He waits for Peter to nod before turning back to Anabelle. “How do we remove the spell?”

She huffs a laugh, “You really think I’m going to tell you? Why on earth would I do that?”

“Because I’ll kill you if you don’t!” Peter exclaims tear tracks stain his cheeks. He tries to get in front of Stephen, but the man holds him back. 

Anabelle chuckles, “I think you’ll find removing a dead woman’s spell is much harder than an alive one.”

Stephen looks at Peter, “I was asking before, but now I’m telling you that you need to take a break. Go cool off, get a drink of water.”

Peter shakes his head, “No. I want to stay. Please, I’ll be quiet if you just let me stay! I need to hear what she says."

"I said no, Peter," Stephen points to the door with a hard expression.

Peter bows his head in shame. He wants to fight more, but he knows he’ll lose. So he walks quietly out the door, it clicks shut behind him. Once he is separated from Stephen, Peter runs. His feet pound against the marble floor, resonating into his chest. He flings open the door to his bedroom door and throws himself down onto the bed.

It's all his fault. She found out his identity. She was able to target him because of it. And now he’ll die at Tony’s hands.

Or he’ll spend the rest of his life running. He'd rather die than live in the run. Than live always wondering if the next moment could be his last. He'd rather die than be hunted by his family for the rest of his life. But he shakes his head. Tony wouldn't want him to die. None of them would. 

_But maybe_ , he thinks, _if I kill myself the spell will go away. They won't have anyone left to hunt_. Yeah, his death will still hurt, but not as much as it would if they were the ones to do it. He needs to die for this all to stop. For it all to go away. 

Peter sniffs and wipes his eyes. It makes sense to him. 

That's why he doesn't think twice about throwing on his coat and sprinting out of the Sanctum. He runs and runs and runs until he is standing in front of the Stark Tower. The imposing building looms over him. It used to be his favorite place in the world, but now it holds nothing but pain. Memories of pain caused by his friends and family. 

Taking a deep breath he walks into the lobby and to the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! I also have a tumblr (@romeoandjulietyouwish). You can ask me questions about my fics or send me requests for short fics (requests are re-opening as soon as this fic is done!)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited for this chapter. I started writing it immediately after I posted the last one (I never do that). I loved all of your comments on the last chapters seeing your predictions and thoughts on what was going to happen next as well as your reactions!
> 
> In my timeline for writing this fic, I had planned to finish it on the last of the month, but I think I'm going to have this wrapped up by the end of the week!

The wind is cold and harsh as it whips around Peter as he stands on the roof. He wraps his arms around his stomach, but it does nothing to help against the cold. He’s been on the roof of Stark Tower more times than he can count, but this time it’s different.

_“Peter?” Peter turned around to see Tony standing in the doorway. A memory from a year ago. Tony held a soft blanket in his arms and two thermoses of hot chocolate. “Want some company?”_

_Peter smiled up at the man, “Sure.” Tony wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and handed him a thermos. Peter looked at his lap. “Want to tell me what you’re doing up here?”_

_Peter scoffed, “As if you don’t already know.”_

_Tony took a sip of hot chocolate, “Because you told me you loved me?” Peter nodded. “Peter...it’s alright. I love you too. You’re like the son I never had.”_

_Peter looked up at him with hope, “Yeah?” Tony nodded, swinging and arm around Peter’s shoulders. Peter snuggled into Tony’s side._

_“I’m sorry I ran away,” Peter mutters._

_“It’s okay, kid. I understand.” Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulder. “Can I be honest with you?” Peter nodded. “I never thought I would have a child. Never. I never even wanted one until I met you. But since I met you,” he sighed, “everything I thought I knew about myself has changed for the good. I love you, Peter.” Peter threw his arms around Tony._

Peter wipes away his tears, all that pain will go away soon. 

As he takes another step and suddenly he is fifteen years old again. _Steve had his hand on his shoulder, “It wasn’t your fault, kid.”_

_Peter shook his head, “Yes it was. I wasn’t fast enough to save her.”_

_Steve pulled him closer, gently embracing the boy, “There were too many risks. No one is mad at you because you chose yourself over a stranger.”_

_“But I shouldn’t have!” Peter exclaimed. “I should have at least tried.” His voice is shaky._

_“Peter,” Steve said evenly. “There will always be people you can’t save. But that doesn’t discount all of the people you did save.” Peter sobbed and Steve pulled him into a tight hug. “It’s going to be okay. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but we will always be here to support you.”_

_Peter sniffed and nuzzled closer to Steve, “Thank you.”_

Peter shakes his head. It’s not like that anymore, _Steve’s_ not like that anymore. 

Peter looks down. His toes hang over the edge of the building and below he can see people running around, going on with their lives. Unaware of how complicated a terrifying Peter’s has become. 

_“What are you doing up here?” Natasha asked. Peter was back in his memory, six months ago._

_Peter looked over his shoulder and then back up at the dark sky with a sigh, “I’m not sure. I just needed space to think.”_

_Natasha nodded as she crossed her legs and sat beside Peter. “What are you thinking about?”_

_“I don’t know.” Peter twisted his hands together. “I just, I can’t sleep. There are too many things on my mind.”_

_Natasha smiled, “I get like that too.”_

_“How did you know I was up here?” Peter looked to her, “Did FRIDAY rat me out?”_

_She laughed, “Yeah. The second you got on the roof. Good thing I was up or your dad would have come.”_

_“He’s not my dad,” Peter rolled his eyes._

_“Sure thing, ребенок паук.”_

Peter takes a deep breath feeling the cold air enter his lungs. The sky above him is filled with nothing of clouds, not even the sun penetrates it. 

“Do it already.” Someone says from behind him. Peter twists around to see Tony standing in the door of the stairs. Peter’s heart hurts. In the past, Tony had always freaked out whenever Peter was standing anywhere near a ledge, even as Spiderman. He would pull Peter away from the edge and into a warm hug. He would ask Peter if he’s alright and make him hot chocolate. “You got all the way up here, so do it.” Tony walks closer to Peter. “Jump.” He commands, his voice like iron. 

“Tony,” Peter chokes. His voice is thick with tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“You should be.”

Peter walks towards Tony, but then he can no longer hold himself back. He sprints into Tony’s arms and presses him against the man’s chest. He sobs and clutches himself as close to Tony as he can. 

“What are you doing?” Tony asks slowly. “Get off of me.” Tony grabs Peter’s shoulders and shoves him backward, closer to the edge. Peter sobs and stumbles a few steps back. “You wanted to jump. So jump.” Tony glares at Peter. 

“I love you, Tony,” Peter whimpers. He turns around and faces the ledge. 

And he steps off. 

He feels the rush of the wind and the sharp bite of cold. But other than that, he feels nothing but sadness. Sadness that he sees no other way to help himself. Sadness at the life he could have lived. Sadness at the fact that his death will help more people than it will hurt. 

In what he believes to be his last moments, he sends a prayer that Tony and May and Ned will be okay. That they’ll understand why he did it. That everyone will be better because of it. 

And be braces himself for the impact.

Then he stops falling. 

With a soft gasp, he finds himself being lifted upward, back towards the roof. He wriggles his arms, he doesn’t want that. He wants this to be over. He struggles against whatever magic is pulling him back up. When his feet land on the roof, Peter crumples to the ground, chest heaving with his labored breathing. He’s exhausted.

“Are you alright?” Peter looks up to see Stephen standing above him. He looks like he’s aged a hundred years since he last saw him. 

“I’m okay,” Peter looks to where Tony was standing. Tony is now collapsed against the roof, his body limp and motionless. “Is he...?”

Stephen kneels down beside Peter, “He’s okay. I took the spell off of him.”

Peter’s eyes fly wide with shock, “You...You did?”

Stephen nods, “It’s going to be okay.” 

Peter throws his arms around Stephen’s neck, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

An immense relief floods Peter’s heart. They did it. He’s okay. _Tony, Steve, Nat, Clint, Hulk, Wanda, and Bucky._ It’s all okay. 

“I already got everyone else,” Stephen says softly. “As we speak they’re being moved to rooms in the medbay. They should wake up in four to six hours.”

“Okay,” Peter whispers. He looks around, leaning away from the edge of the roof. “Can we go inside?”

“Of course.” Stephen helps Peter to his feet, wrapping a protective arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Pepper’s going to be here by the end of the hour,” Stephen explains as they walk down the steps. 

“Rhodey and Happy?”

“I’m not sure, but I think Pepper can tell you when she gets here.”

Peter leans closer to Stephen, “Thank you for taking care of me. And for helping me. I know I wasn’t easy to deal with and I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, Peter. You were going through a hard time, but it’s over now.” Stephen rubs Peter’s arm. 

They’re almost to the medbay when Peter says, “Are they going to remember anything?”

Stephen shakes his head, “I don’t believe so.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

Peter nods, “It’s better that they don’t remember what they did. It would hurt them too much to know.”

“How are you still such a good person?” Stephen asks. “After all you’ve been through?”

Peter shrugs, “They don’t deserve the pain of living with actions they didn’t commit or know they were doing.” 

Stephen guides Peter to sit down in a chair in the empty hallway. All of the doors in front of them are open and in one of the rooms, Peter can see Bucky lying on a hospital bed, his metal arm reflecting the light. He looks away.

“Peter, can I ask you a question?” Stephen sits down beside Peter. “Why did you jump?”

Peter shrinks in his chair, “I thought...killing myself would end the spell. If I were to die at my own hands,” Stephen flinches, “Tony wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of killing me.”

Stephen hugs Peter close, “Peter...”

“I’m not suicidal,” Peter says. “I just, I didn’t see any way out. I didn’t want to keep living in fear.”

“I know,” Stephen gently rubs Peter’s back. “I know.”

“Peter!” A relieved voice says from the end of the hallway. Peter looks around to see Pepper walking quickly towards them. Peter jumps to his feet and runs to the woman, embracing her tightly. Peter thought all of his tears were dried up, but when he feels Pepper kiss the top of his head, he can’t stop crying. “It’s alright now,” Pepper whispers in his ear. “Everything’s okay now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all so much for reading this! If you have any questions leave a comment or message me on tumblr (@romeoandjulietyouwish) I am also opening requests on my tumblr when I post the last chapter of this!
> 
> Comments keep me going!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! New chapter! I am AMAZED by the response I got on the last chapter! Thank you so much to all of you who left such amazing and incredible comments!

Pepper gently runs her hands through Peter’s soft curls. The boy’s head rests on her lap, his legs extended across the chairs next to them. After Pepper and Peter have been sitting in the hallway for over two hours, Stephen finally emerges from Tony’s room. 

“He’s awake and he’s asking for you guys,” Stephen says with a small smile. 

Peter takes a deep breath and nods. What’s going to happen when he sees Tony again? Pepper rubs his arm supportively, “I’m going to be right here the whole time.” Peter nods and allows Pepper to help him to his feet. 

When they walk into the room, Tony is sitting up in the hospital bed, his face filled with a soft smile when he sees them. 

“Hey, guys,” Tony gestures for them to come closer. Peter does, though he keeps himself as close to Pepper as possible. His head is screaming at him that something’s wrong, that Tony’s going to hurt him. Peter’s heart drops to his stomach. _Tony punching him across the face. Tony watching while Wanda tortured him. Tony telling him to kill himself._ But when Peter looks into Tony’s eyes, the cold and emptiness are gone. Instead he just sees _Tony_. Tony smiles up at the two of them, “I’m sorry if I scared you guys. Stephen told me that I was in a coma for a few days.” Pepper nods, this was the cover story they had decided on. “How have you guys been?”

Pepper looks at Peter before answering Tony, “It’s been a hard few days.”

“I’m sorry,” Tony says honestly.

Pepper pulls away from Peter for a second to plant a kiss on Tony’s cheek and squeezes his hand. When she pulls away, Tony looks at Peter expectantly. “What? Too old to give me a hug?”

Peter smiles, this is the Tony he remembers. The one he loves. Peter ignores his building subconscious panic and sits down on the edge of the bed. Tony smiles at him and reaches out to touch his cheek. But before Tony can touch him, Peter flinches out of the way. When he looks up at Tony, the man’s eyes are filled with guilt which only makes Peter feel worse than he already does.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Peter,” Tony says evenly after a moment. “Can I give you a hug?”

Peter nods and presses himself against Tony. Tony is warm and comforting beneath him, his hands gently rubbing across Peter’s back. It’s familiar. But the momentary peace and calm don’t last long because all too soon Peter remember the last time he hugged Tony. 

He was standing on the roof, the wind whipping around him as he prepared to end his life. He remembers how Tony had looked as he told him to jump, cold and emotionless. He remembers how desperate he was when he clung to Tony, hoping it would bring the man he loved back to him. But it didn’t. Tony shoved him away and told him to die. And he had wanted to. 

“Peter?” Tony says and it’s the same voice. The same voice that told him to jump off the roof. _You wanted to jump. So jump._

Peter shoves away from Tony, tearing himself out of his embrace. He squeezes his eyes shut. He’s not on the roof anymore. He’s safe. He’s inside. Tony’s okay. Tony would never hurt him. He wouldn’t. _But he did_. But he didn’t mean to. He was under a spell. This Tony, the one in front of him would never hurt him. _Are you sure?_ Yes.

“I’m sorry,” Peter chokes out. “I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s okay, Peter,” Tony says gently. His expression is soft and gentle, but also deeply concerned. “You’re safe here.” 

“Why don’t you sit down?” Pepper takes his arm and guides him to sit in the chair. 

“Has his aunt been here at all?” Tony asks Pepper. 

She shakes her head, “I need to call her.” She turns to Peter. “Will you be alright if I step out?” If Tony is confused by the question, he doesn’t show it. Peter nods. “Okay,” Pepper smiles at the boy. “I’ll be back in a second.”

When the door closes behind her Tony says, “I know you’re not okay, Peter. I know you too well to think that. Please tell me what’s wrong.” Tony twists to face Peter, though the boy doesn’t look up at him. 

Peter shakes his head, “I’m fine. You, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Tony scoffs, “I always worry about you, Pete,” Tony smiles patiently at him. Peter sighs, this Tony calls him ‘Pete’. The other one never did that. So he’s safe. Tony won’t hurt him. 

“You’re the one who was in a coma for three days,” Peter is surprised at how easily the lie rolls off his tongue. “If anything you should be worried about yourself.”

Tony rolls his eyes, “When have I ever worried about myself?” They share a laugh, both ignoring how forced Peter’s sounds. Tony smiles sadly at Peter, “Seriously though, you promise you’re fine?”

Peter nods, “I promise.” Tony didn’t have to see the fingers crossed behind his back.

“May’s on her way,” Pepper says as she enters the room. “And there are a couple of people in the hall who want to see you,” she addresses to both men. 

“Who?” Peter asks, his voice quiet. 

“Steve, Bucky, and Wanda.” Pepper looks at Peter, her eyes filling with concern. “I can send them away-”

“Let them in,” Tony says before Peter can say anything. Pepper throws Peter one more anxious look before opening the door and letting the three in, returning immediately to his side.

And if Peter thought seeing Tony was bad, he wasn’t prepared to see two of the people who had tortured him to the edge of insanity and the man who he had to look in the eyes while he tries to squeeze the life out of him. 

Peter draws his legs to his chest, making himself as small as possible in the chair. Pepper, seeing his anxiety, crouches down beside him while the other three go to Tony’s bedside and start talking.

“Do you need to leave?” Pepper asks quietly. 

Peter shakes his head, “I’ll be okay. I need to get over it sometime.”

Pepper frowns, “Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Peter nods. “You can leave anytime you need to.” Peter nods again and listens in to the conversation between Wanda, Bucky, Steve, and Tony. 

“Did Strange tell you if we got the wizard?” Steve asks, his arms are crossed over his chest as he stands on the opposite side of the bed. Wanda sits at the foot of the bed with Bucky just over her shoulder. 

Tony shakes his head, “Did we?”

When no one answers, Peter pipes up, “You did.” They seem satisfied with the answer, but it brings their attention to Peter.

“How are you, Peter?” Wanda asks with a small smile.

He shrugs, “I’ve been better. Uh, how are you guys?”

“Just plain confused,” Steve says with a small laugh. “It’s not too different from when I woke up from the ice, a little less shocking though.” They all laugh, causing Peter to squeeze his eyes shut and lean into Pepper. Steve frowns and walks over to Peter and sits down beside him. Peter watches him apprehensively, leaning away from him. “Are you alright?” Steve asks when he sees Peter’s reaction. “Did I do something?”

“No, sorry, I’ve just had a...a...headache,” Peter lies. Pepper squeezes his hand, seeing through his lie. 

“Do you want me to check it out?” Wanda asks kindly. Her red magic sits at the tips of her fingers. 

“No!” Peter says quickly. _It feels like his brain is being torn in two from the inside and like his mind is on fire simultaneously._ He shakes his head and tries to speak but nothing comes out. He gasps for air as he pushes past all of them and bolts into the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Please feel free to hit me up in the comments or on my tumblr (@romeoandjulietyouwish) with any questions or comments you have about this! 
> 
> I am also opening requests on my tumblr starting the same day I finish this fic!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here (a day early)! I was once again amazed at the reception the last chapter got! It's so amazing to see how much you guys love this and are excited about new updates. Idk how much I like this chapter, but it's here. Idk if I'm going to have to add another chapter (I think I'm going to), but we'll see.
> 
> <3

When Peter starts to run, Tony tries to follow. He flings himself off of the hospital bed and tries to go past Pepper, but she steps in front of him and puts a hand on his chest, “Don’t.”

“Pepper, he’s my kid. I-”

“I said don’t,” Pepper says, her eyes fierce as she stares him down. Tony’s face falls.

“Is he okay?” Wanda asks. Her voice is soft and full of worry as she turns to face the rest of the group.

Pepper pushes Tony so he sits down on the edge of the bed, “No, he’s not.” Tony bites his lip.

“Can we do anything to help?” Steve steps up beside Wanda, a comforting hand rests on her shoulder. She leans into the touch. Tony’s hands fall helplessly in his lap as he thinks about Peter. The kid who just sprinted out of the room. The kid who thought he would hurt him. As if he ever could.

“Just stay here, following him will only make it worse,” Pepper sighs and sits back down in the chair. “FRIDAY, help Bruce find Peter and keep everyone else away.”

“Bruce? Pep, what’s going on?” Tony’s voice is alarmed and full of concern. “Is-”

Tony is cut off by FRIDAY, “Ms. Potts, Mr. Barton has just woken up and is asking for Peter. He keeps yelling won’t listen to me.”

Pepper pinches the bridge of her nose, “Get Strange to him.” She calms herself by smoothing out imaginary wrinkles on her skirt. Tony can see thin cracks starting to appear in his fiancee’s facade. Something is really wrong. 

“Clint?” Steve asks. “He’s retired. What’s he doing here?”

“What the hell is going on?!” Tony exclaims. “Peter-”

“Shut up!” Pepper shouts. The room falls silent. “None of you know what’s going on and I understand that. But, I can only answer one question at a time.” She sinks down into her chair, “Peter’s going to be okay. He just needs Bruce to help him. I will not elaborate on that any further.” Tony looks like he wants to protest, but one look from Pepper quiets him. 

“Why is Clint here?” Wanda asks gently. 

Pepper smiles at her, “He came to see you guys when he heard what happened,” she explains. “He drove up the same day.” Wanda nods, accepting the answer.

“Why is he looking for Peter?” Steve asks calmly. 

“I don’t know,” Pepper lies. Tony looks like he wants to ask a question, but Pepper claps her hands together before he can say anything, “That’s enough questions. Are you guys hungry?” 

When Pepper, Wanda, Tony, Steve, and Bucky walk into the living room they find Peter and Bruce on the couch. Peter is asleep with his head on Bruce’s shoulder. His face is calm and full of peace, the exact opposite of the boy Tony had seen in the hospital room. Bruce’s arms are wrapped around him and a soft blanket covers both of them. With his free hand, Bruce is reading from a Stark Pad. He looks up when they enter. 

“Bruce,” Steve says with a small smile, “how are you feeling?”

He glances down at Peter then back up at Steve, “I’ve been better.”

Tony sits down at Peter’s feet, “Is he okay?” His eyes never leave the boy.

Bruce sighs, “No. But, he’s getting through it. It’s been a hard few days.”

“What happened?” Wanda asks. She perches delicately on the edge of the coffee table. 

“He had a flashback,” Bruce looks down at the sleeping boy with sympathy. Tony’s face darkens. 

“Flashback?” Pepper asks.

Bruce nods, “It’s a symptom of PTSD.”

Tony puts a hand over his mouth, Pepper stands over him, gently rubbing his shoulder. Peter has PTSD. That’s not new information to Tony, but Tony has only ever been present to one of his flashbacks. It was a year ago. Tony thought he was doing better. What changed?

“Do you have any idea what triggered it?” Tony asks after a moment when he manages to form words.

“I...uh, yes,” Bruce says hesitantly, “but I think Peter would prefer if I didn’t share that.”

“That’s alright,” Pepper says. “Tony, why don’t we get you a glass of water?”

He nods, but his mind is clearly elsewhere as Pepper helps him to his feet and guides him to the kitchen. Bucky and Wanda follow, but Steve lingers with Bruce and Peter.

...

Peter can’t even remember what he’s dreaming about. But he feels intense terror in his gut as faces of his family dance across his gaze. They taunt him, hit him, and laugh, their faces dead and emotionless. The next thing he knows someone is gently shaking his shoulder. 

“Peter, you need to wake up,” Bruce says calmly. “You’re having a nightmare.”

Peter squeezes his eyes shut and stretches slightly. He can feel Bruce’s comforting presence under him, arm wrapped around him. Peter cracks his eyes open and finds himself looking into a pair of familiar blue eyes. 

_Steve slams a punch to Peter’s cheek, “We are not your friends. One more try. Why are you spying on us?”_

_Peter flinches away, “I-I-I’m not a spy, Steve, please...” Steve hits Peter again, this time breaking his nose._

“-er. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes,” Bruce’s voice is comforting. Peter feels the man’s calloused palm on his cheek as Bruce forces him to look away from Steve. Peter closes his eyes. “That’s it. Now a deep breath.” Peter does. “There you go. Are you back with me?” Peter nods and falls against Bruce. He hugs him tight, whispering quietly to the boy.

“Peter?” 

Peter lifts his head to see Tony towering over him. Though the man’s face is filled with parental concern, he flinches back against Bruce. Peter snaps his eyes shut, “I’m okay, I’m okay,” he repeats under his breath. He can distantly hear Bruce telling Tony and Steve to leave. Peter claws himself back to reality. “I’m sorry,” Peter murmurs. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Pepper says. She kneels down beside Peter and Bruce and takes his hand. “Why don’t I take you to your bedroom? You could get some sleep?” Pepper squeezes his hand. Peter nods. 

Pepper helps the boy to his feet and wraps an arm around his waist. Peter allows himself to lean on Pepper as she guides him out of the room. When they walk into the hallway, Peter sees Tony and Steve talking quietly. They don’t see them. 

“He’s going to be alright,” Steve says quietly. “He’s a strong kid.”

“I don’t know what I did,” Tony says. His voice is filled with tears and when Tony over at Peter, he finds his eyes are too. Peter ducks his head. He doesn’t want to see the pain he caused Tony. 

Once Pepper leave Peter in his room, he burrows himself into a pile of blankets on his bed and he cries. He cries because he’s exhausted. He cries because no one understands his pain. He cries because his life won’t ever be normal again. He cries because of the look in Tony’s eyes when he flinched away from him. He cries because none of them understand why he is the way he is. He cries because he caused Tony so much pain.

“Peter,” FRIDAY says. “Mr. Rogers is wondering if you’re okay.”

He sighs, “Yeah. I’m okay.” Peter wipes his cheeks with the back of his hand.

Then Peter has an epiphany. FRIDAY. FRIDAY would have seen everything from the past few days. But FRIDAY wasn’t working on Friday. Would she still have seen everything? She would have seen Peter fighting Bucky and Wanda and Natasha and running away from Tony and Cap. And Peter jumping off the roof. All any of them would have to do is ask FRIDAY for the security footage.

Peter sits up and wipes his eyes on his sleeve, “FRIDAY, do you have any footage from the last four days?”

“Yes. I have all of the footage from Friday to today.” FRIDAY answers sweetly. 

Peter takes a shaky breath, “FRIDAY, can you delete any footage from that time with me in it?”

“I’m sorry, Peter, but you do not have the clearance to delete files.”

“Shit,” Peter groans.

...

“Boss?” FRIDAY asks. 

“Yeah?”

“Peter is attempting to delete footage from the past four days,” she responds. 

Tony frowns, “What?” FRIDAY repeats herself. “Let me see the footage, FRI.” After a few minutes, Tony’s eyes are filled with tears. “Guys!” He calls into the living room. Guys, there’s something you need to see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your kind comments on the last chapter, they really keep me going and I love hearing from you. 
> 
> You can also hmu with any questions you have on my tumblr: @romeoandjulietyouwish
> 
> <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I added another chapter. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. Thank you so much to all the people who left comments and messaged me on tumblr! <3

Peter has been laying in his bed for well over an hour, his stomach is growling, but he doesn’t really want to leave his room. His eyes are heavy and he can feel a headache sitting just behind his eyes, but his brain is too awake. 

Peter sits up when he hears a knock at his door. “Peter?” Tony asks hesitantly from the other side of the closed door. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” he calls. As Tony opens his door and walks in, Peter clutches a pillow tight to his chest. 

“Can I sit?” Tony asks, gesturing to his desk chair. Peter nods. 

When Peter looks up at Tony he is shocked by how awful he looks. Tony’s eyes are red and puffy, his hair is a mess, and thick dark circles lay under his eyes. He looks like he’s aged twenty years since he saw him an hour ago. “Are you okay?” Peter asks gently.

Tony scoffs, “I think I should be asking you that.”

Peter sighs, “I’m okay now, I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I don’t know why-”

“Peter,” Tony says gently. “I’m going to stop you there because it’s okay. I’m not upset with you. But I do want to understand what happened.” He gives Peter an encouraging smile, the same smile that convinced him to finally call the man by his first name.

“Okay,” Peter nods. He picks at the edge of the pillowcase. “These last few days have really been stressful. You were only in a coma for three or four days and I could get it out of my head that you would never wake up,” Peter lies. “I guess when you finally woke up it all just came crashing down on me.”

Tony sighs, “You don’t need to do that.”

“What?”

“Lie.” 

Peter’s eyes bulge, “W-What? I’m-I’m not lying.”

Tony smiles sadly, “Peter. I know. All of us do. We know what we did to you.”

Peter clutches the pillow tighter, “How?” His voice is soft, Tony almost doesn’t hear it. 

“Security footage.” Peter internally beats himself he knew it. He knew it would come back to bite him.

Peter chews on his lip for a moment, “Tony, I’m so sorry. I should have told you-”

“It’s okay, Pete. I get it. I would have done the same, to protect you.” He leans forward a bit. “But would you be okay with talking to all of us for a bit? Explain what happened? Everyone is kind of freaking out and we’re all confused. Strange didn’t want to say anything without your permission.”

Peter wrings his hands around the pillow, “I don’t know if that’s the best idea...”

“Please, Peter,” Tony begs. “We need to know.”

He bites his lip, “I know you, Tony. I know that anything I tell you, you’ll use to hate yourself.”

Tony levels with him, “If you were in my situation, would you want to know?” Peter sighs.

Peter and Tony walk side by side back into the living room. Everyone is already sitting on the couch. Steve has his arms around Bucky who stares at nothing. Clint and Natasha are sitting so close, their entire sides are pressed against each other. And apart from them all, Wanda is curled up in a ball by the armrest. She doesn’t touch or even look at anyone. Bruce sits in the armchair beside the couch, watching the others apprehensively. Pepper and Stephen appear to be talking quietly, seated on the loveseat opposite them all. After a moment of standing in the doorway, Pepper looks up at them with a soft smile, she taps Stephen’s shoulder and points to him. 

Stephen walks over to Peter, “How are you?”

Peter shrugs, “I’m alright.” Peter watches everyone for a moment, “Um, can you do the talking? I told you everything that happened and I...I don’t think I’ll be able to talk about it.” 

Stephen nods, “Of course.” He puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder and gently guides him to the loveseat opposite. Pepper, who remained where she was, holds him close to her as Stephen begins to speak. 

Instead of listening to Stephen’s words, Peter watches their faces. When Stephen describes how Bucky had nearly killed Peter, Bucky’s eyes rake up and down the boy, as if checking for any remaining injuries. Peter sees how Tony is already blaming himself from the way he hunches his shoulders and how he won’t look at anyone. He hates the way Clint flinches when Stephen tells him he betrayed Peter. Natasha squeezes his hand, but Peter knows Clint can’t feel it. Wanda covers her mouth to hide a sob when she finds out that she helped torture Peter. Clint reaches out to help her, but she shakes off his hand. Tony doesn’t bother to hide his tears when he hears how he attacked Peter. And he hates the way they all look at him when they hear about his suicide attempt. Peter drops his gaze shamefully. 

The room falls silent when Stephen is finished. Natasha hands Wanda and Tony tissues but says nothing.

After a moment, Steve says, “Peter, I am so sorry for everything that happened. Please, how can we help you? How can we make this right?”

Peter looks up, “I, um, I don’t know...” He wrings his hands together. Peter squeezes his shoulder. “Please, don’t hover, I guess. Um, if I start having an um...‘freak out’ again, please let Pepper, Bruce, or Stephen help me.”

Clint nods, “We can do that.”

“Peter...” Tony chokes, “Can you ever forgive us?”

“I already have.” Peter says simply. He makes eye contact with every single one of them. “I know it wasn’t you and I don’t blame any for you for...what happened. I, um, all I ask of you guys it to be patient with me. It’s going to take a bit for me to be completely comfortable around you again.”

Tony shakes his head, “Don’t do that, Pete.” He looks up at the boy, “Don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault and it never will be.” Tony sighs, “Can you promise me something?” Peter nods. “Don’t go through this alone. Let people help you.”

“I promise,” Peter says. He tugs on his sleeves, “Can I give you guys a hug?” Tony is pretty sure his heart is literally melting. 

“Of course.”

Peter stands up and goes to Steve first. Since Steve is significantly taller than Peter, Peter rests his head on his chest. Peter feels as if he could hide from the entire world. Steve gives him a supportive smile. Next is Natasha, her hug is short and sweet, but Peter knows how much she cares for him, it’s clear in the gentle way she pulls away from him and the soft kiss she presses to his cheek. Bucky is the same as Natasha as if he doesn’t trust himself completely with touching the boy. His hands are loose around Peter. Tony’s is soft and comforting, familiar. Peter imagines himself shoving the bad memories away and replacing them with this memory. Tony presses a soft kiss to his forehead with teary eyes. 

Peter approaches Clint more hesitantly than the others. Clint was the man he trusted to keep him safe, to protect him, but he turned against him. But he loves him nonetheless. Clint wipes his eyes as Peter presses himself against. “Peter...” Clint breathes, “I’m sorry.” 

Peter shakes his head as he pulls back, “It wasn’t you.”

Then Peter steps in front of Wanda. She holds her shoulder tightly, “Peter...I don’t know-”

Peter cuts her off by wrapping her arms tightly around her middle. He feels tears leaking out of his eyes when she holds him back just as tight. Peter knows how truly awful she feels for what happened and knowing her, she feels even worse that she can’t remember it. 

“You okay?” He asks her gently.

Wanda bites her lip with a small nod, “I think so.”

Peter walks back over to Pepper who slings an arm around his shoulders. He sniffs and looks up at her, “Can we have dinner now?” 

Pepper laughs, "Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! We only have one more chapter left to go! Please feel free to leave a comment or message me on tumblr. 
> 
> Tumblr: @romeoandjulietyouwish


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. I did it. we're here. it's the end. thank you so much to all of you who were here from the beginning and thank you to you guys who are finding it today! And extra special thank you to all of the people who left comments or messaged me on tumblr!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the final chapter!

Peter never thought fighting PTSD would be easy. He knew it was going to take long, hard work, but he didn’t know he was going to have to do it without leaning on Tony. Instead, he leans on Pepper, Stephen, and Bruce and he loves them, but it’s not the same. But nonetheless, he makes progress, slow progress, but still progress.

It begins during a Friday movie night. For the past few weeks, Peter has forgone sitting in his usual spot, curled up to Tony’s side, and instead sits beside Pepper. Her hands gently hold him close to her, protecting him from the world. Often times when they watch movies, something will trigger Peter. Lines of dialogue or situations, it’s hard to know what would be a trigger for him so it helped him feel safe to have Pepper close to him, knowing she’ll be there to help him. 

But tonight is different, tonight Peter wants things to be normal. So he sits down beside Tony. If the man is shocked, he does a good job of hiding it. Peter pulls Tony’s blanket partially onto his lap and sticks his cold toes under Tony’s leg. 

Tony laughs, “How are you this cold, kid?”

Peter rolls his eyes, “I forgot to put on socks.”

Peter longs to go back to normal, to trust himself to move closer to Tony without risking a panic attack or flashback. He wants to know he’s safe again. But his mind doesn’t know that, so Peter sits just a bit separate from Tony. As the movie begins, Bruce dims the lights. They used to turn them all the way off, but they quickly figured out that Peter needed the lights to at least be slightly on. 

“Can I hug you, Peter?” Tony asks quietly after a few minutes. 

Peter nods and the man wraps an arm around his shoulders, bringing him closer to his chest. Peter feels a swell of comfort he suddenly finds he’s been lacking when he rests his head on Tony’s chest. Peter feels Tony exhale a sigh of relief and a tentative hand finds its way into Peter’s hair. Peter smiles and gently nudges his head back into the hand, encouraging Tony to keep going. Tony huffs out a small laugh, “Never change, kid.”

Peter smiles. 

It’s progress but it’s slow. 

After three weeks, Wanda trusts herself in a room alone with Peter. Normally when Peter entered a room with just Wanda, she would find some way to leave. But this morning was different, this morning Peter walks in on Wanda making breakfast. It’s too early for the rest of the adults to be awake, so it’s just the two of them. Peter doesn't say anything, expecting Wanda to walk out, but she doesn’t. She is clearly nervous from the way she keeps glancing at Peter, but she doesn’t leave. 

As Peter pops a piece of toast into the toaster, he gives her a small smile. The one she returns is strained, but a smile nonetheless. When Wanda sits down beside Peter to eat breakfast he can’t hold himself back from wrapping her in a hug. 

“I missed you,” he whispers. 

He can feel Wanda smile, “Me too.”

It takes him another two months to be able to train with Steve and Bucky again without Pepper or Bruce sitting in. He feels a swell of pride in his chest when two hours later he’s okay. So maybe Steve pulled his punches just a little more than normal or maybe Bucky had gone a little easy on the boy, but none of that matters to Peter. All that matters is that he did it. Steve and Bucky both give him long hugs and tell them how proud of him. And when Peter tells Tony, he receives a proud smile and a soft kiss on the forehead. 

But, after two weeks of training with Bucky and Steve, Pepper and Tony finally let Peter go out on patrol again. But they still won’t let him on missions. 

Peter corners Tony as he is suiting up for the next mission, “Let me come with you.”

Tony sighs, “Peter, we’ve been over this. It’s not safe for you.”

“It never will be!” Peter exclaims. “Every time you’re just going to make up more excuses for why I can’t go. I can do it, Tony!”

“No, you can’t,” Tony says calmly. Ever since Tony found out what happened, he has made a conscious effort never to raise his voice at the boy. Not that he did much in the first place, but he tries his hardest to never even show Peter if he is upset with him. 

Peter lets out a frustrated groan, “Yes, I can! I’m Spiderman!”

“That doesn’t make you invincible-”

“You’re not invincible either! None of you are!” Peter shouts, gesturing wildly. “It’s just a much of a risk for you as it is for me!” He shakes his head, “Please, Tony, let me help.”

Tony sighs, “I said no, Peter.”

Peter tugs on his hair, “Stop treating me like a child!” 

“You’re sixteen.” Tony says evenly. “You are a child.”

“I’ve been in battles before!” Peter steps towards Tony.

“That doesn’t-”

“I’m not going to break!” Peter yells, his voice cracking slightly. “I’m not as fragile as you think I am.” Peter presses his trembling hands against his legs. “And I get that you’re being protective and that I’ve been through a lot, but you can’t wrap me in bubble wrap and hide me away forever!” Peter wipes his eyes. “Tony, you don’t understand my side of this. Every time you guys leave I have to wonder if you are going to come back the same as you left!”

“Peter...” Tony steps closer to the boy. 

Peter shakes his head, “I’m fine. Just, _please_ take me with you.”

“Peter...I can’t,” Tony sighs. Peter looks as if he wants to speak but Tony interrupts him. “Please listen to me.” Tony catches Peter’s hands and gently massages the back of them. “I would be a terrible parent if I let you. You’re not okay, Peter. You’re not in the right place mentally.”

“Tony-”

“No, listen to me,” Tony squeezes his hands. “I wouldn’t let you fight with a broken rib, so why would I let you fight when you are still struggling with PTSD and anxiety.”

“I can’t keep waiting here for you to come back,” Peter says quietly. 

Tony wipes away Peter’s tears, “How about this, I’ll let FRIDAY give you access to the entire team’s vitals and comms while we’re out. Does that sound okay?”

Peter nods, “Better than nothing.” Tony smirks and kisses the top of Peter’s head. 

“You okay, kid?” 

They’re not okay yet, but with time, they will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOOOOT WE DID IT FOLKS! IM SO HAPPY WITH THIS!
> 
> I am opening prompts on my tumblr tomorrow so be sure to hmu there!
> 
> Tumblr: @romeoandjulietyouwish

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! If you enjoyed this please check out my other stuff on here and my shorter fics on my tumblr!
> 
> Tumblr: romeoandjulietyouwish


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